[Formula1]

Gaslight

WHAT THE FUCK.

This cannot be good for Rossberg's pyche. I would drive with a lot more peace of mind knowing I had the Red Baron as wingman guarding my six. Not to mention wondering if they forgot to tighten something on his stop.

evilbob

God damn it Mercedes.

Glocjt

Well, that blows.

Gaslight

Gentlemen, please do not bring NASCAR references into my F1 coverage. :evil:

Glocjt

Gaslight wrote: »

Gentlemen, please do not bring NASCAR references into my F1 coverage. :evil:

:^:

Glocjt

Sooo...more Hamilton/Massa drama imminent?

Edit: Guess not this time, heh.

Gaslight

I can't remember seeing so much rubber on the track.

Xrdd

McLaren's pit crew just ruined Button's race.

Glocjt

Yeah, there seems to be quite a bit more rubber strewn about than I remember seeing before.

Also, too bad about Button. Sucks when a bad pit stop hoses a driver's race.

I'm really loving all the action up and down the field, though.

Glocjt

Damn, too bad Kimi's tyres are just about done...he was doing so well.

Gaslight

SILVER ARROWS! Well, one arrow anyway. (Props to Schumacher for his gallant screening at the beginning of the race though, would have been interesting to see how his race would have gone, his pace certainly looked enough to compete with anyone).

Very entertaining race and a feel-good result. Goodnight, all!

Xrdd

Great drive by Rosberg and Button. Shame Vettel couldn't defend on old tyres, would have been nice to see him on the podium after starting so far in the back.

Glocjt

Damn, now that was a race! Worth the three week wait!

yotes

Bummed about Kimi but I guess his tyres were always going to go. This season is a lot of fun, I thought fun wasn't allowed in F1.

uean

I didn't get a chance to watch it until just now. WOW. I've been out of watching for a few years, has it always been this good? That was amazingly entertaining.

Good on ya Grosjean

evilbob

I'm amazed at how much schumi has chilled out.

chrisnl

This season has so far been very competitive at the top, and has had an astounding number of passes on the track. Last season was boring.

oldmanken

You have a slew of incredibly talented drivers, and a number of cars that are competitive in different ways, which means that each individual race is up in the air. It's really an exciting season, more so than most... it's got me from being a passive observer into a full on fan.

Which leads me to a question... with the Bahrain race going to go ahead (more than likely), what's the track like?

chrisnl

If I remember right, the Bahrain track was designed by the same guy that did the China track. So it should be a similar race situation I think.

Xrdd

They're both Tilke designs, but that doesn't necessarily mean much, since Malaysia, Turkey, Abu Dhabi, South Korea, India and the new Texas track are also by him.

Uncle_Balsamic

Bahrain is usually awfully boring. Hopefully the close racing this year will spice it up a little.

yotes

Bahrain is pretty boring, but who knows how it'll play with all this new-found parity going on. Can't really count on rain...

TehSloth

I think it's also usually pretty hot compared to the other races we've had so far, although I think it also usually takes place further into the summer. If it is, it'll be interesting to see how big of an impact it has on tires.

either,or

We haven't been to Bahrain with both KERS and DRS though, which should help. The track itself wasn't awful (it's no Valencia), just not particularly conducive to overtaking. Last year we saw lots of tracks that had been like that previously host exciting races so I'm cautiously optimistic about this weekend.

chrisnl

At the very least, the long straight into a hairpin should provide some overtaking opportunities with KERS and DRS.

either,or

Force India staff had petrol bombs thrown at their car on their way out of the circuit today. Organiser response: This could have happened at any race track, they were just unlucky.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/17767985

Xrdd

Schumacher out in Q1 after apparently miscalculating just how much the track would improve towards the end of the round. Really dumb mistake.

EDIT: Apparently his car had a technical problem.

Xrdd

Vettel on pole, great job by Ricciardo as well.
Based on Rosberg's fast lap, Mercedes may not have entirely solved their tire issues after all.

yotes

Everything's still so strangely close.

And that forest of flags still looks like utter shit. Whoever thought that would be a good idea?

yotes

So, about Bahrain being dead boring..... yeah, that didn't happen.

Next Valencia might bring my heart rate above 70. this season is full of surprises!

Xrdd

Good race, Lotus were surprisingly good, McLaren were surprisingly awful. Sort of disappointed that Rosberg wasn't anywhere near the podium.

either,or

I can't believe how awful Mclarens pit stops have been so far this year. They weren't the fastest last year but there must be something wrong for them to keep having problems. I think the average time Hamilton spend stationary during his three pit stops was over 9 seconds, compared to 3.5 to 4 for the rest of the front runners.

oldmanken

I've not seen the race yet, but how big a fuck-up was the crash?

chrisnl

Big enough to earn a one race ban for the responsible party.

Squirrelmob

Thoughts on the race:

Spoiler:

First lap incident is really the big note. I think it was particularly bad for Alonso, but probalby good in terms of keeping the season interesting. Although, I don't think Grosjean was reckless enough to elicit a 1-race ban.

Rest of the race was pretty good. Feel bad for Kimi, thought he would be set up to make a run at the win, but just didn't have the right set-up today. Also bummed Webber didn't make more hay.

Excited for racing to be back.

yotes

I feel that if the accident had been in open racing and hadn't nearly taken Alonso's head off, Grosjean might have gotten a five place penalty at the worst.

So bummed about the Saubers.

VishNub

Yeah. It's interesting. They seem to be basing the penalty on the sheer amount of danger and chaos that ensued, and not so much on the magnitude of the mistake itself. That makes sense, on the one hand, but it's deeply unfair on the other.

I am pleased to learn that Maldonado has a fatty penalty as well. I only watched the first fifteen laps or so ... did I miss anything else interesting?

101

There were some good battles, but the major stuff was all at the beginning.

Does anyone have a video of the Maldonando/Glock incident?